Italian-Egyptian singer’s victory angers Matteo Salvini

An Italian-Egyptian singer has become the latest target of Italy’s rightwing populist government after he won the Sanremo song festival, an annual competition that draws millions of TV viewers and is used to choose the Italian candidate for the Eurovision song contest.

Alessandro Mahmoud, who performs under the name Mahmood, secured a victory on Saturday night with votes from a jury made up of music experts and journalists, which together account for 60% of a contestants’ score.